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I recently upgraded to a DirecTiVo for my family room (Philips DSR704), and I really like it, so I want to get one for my basement home theatre.

I have a Hitachi 57S500 RPTV in the basement hooked up to a Samsung SIR TS360 HD DirecTV receiver. I would like to get a TiVo unit for the basement as well, but 1) I don't want to spend the ~$1000 for the HD DirecTiVo right now and 2) I don't want to give up my Samsung SIR TS360 because it works great - (built-in OTA HD tuner, DirecTV HD capable) - it has had no issues.

Basically, I would like some standard DirecTiVo functionality in the basement but still retaining my DirecTV HD and OTA HD functionality - the TiVo recording can still be standard (non-HD).

What are my options?

Do they make a receiver that has built-in OTA HD tuner, and is DirecTV HD capable, but also contains non-HD DirecTiVo recording functionality?

Or should I just retain my current HD DirectV receier, and get a StandAlone TiVo receiver (even though the recording quality and other features are not has good as the DirecTiVo units)?

Well the only way to avoid paying the $1000 or so for the HD-DTiVo (which does everything you want, including OTA-HD and regular DTV channels) is to call up DTV and I guess go through customer retention and beg for a discount of some sort. Other than that, you are s* out of luck.

Why not buy a standard DirecTiVo and use a second input on the TV. The first input will be your HD receiver and your second will be the DirecTiVo. You will hav to run 2 more satellite lines (or 1 if you can live with a single tuner) to the basement.

The DirecTiVo will only cost you the receiver mirror fee of $5. A standalone TiVo will cost you $12 a month for a subscription.

Yep - that's what I do. I have 5 cable lines into my den now... 3 from the satellite dish, 1 from the OTA antenna and 1 from regular old free cable TV for those "just in case" days and so I can play with PIP.

It's not so bad, but I find myself pining for more HD program material.

I have the set up rminsk describes on my HD RPTV. I have three lines coming in. Two from the basement multiswitch to the SD Directivo and one line straight from the ms on the dish to the HTL-HD. Directivo is hooked up to the tv w/ s-video, HD receiver is hooked up using DVI cable. Works like a charm until the price on the HD-Dtivo drops and D* adds more HD content.

quote:Originally posted by Michigan Golfer I have a Hitachi 57S500 RPTV in the basement hooked up to a Samsung SIR TS360 HD DirecTV receiver. I would like to get a TiVo unit for the basement as well, but 1) I don't want to spend the ~$1000 for the HD DirecTiVo right now and 2) I don't want to give up my Samsung SIR TS360 because it works great - (built-in OTA HD tuner, DirecTV HD capable) - it has had no issues.

You are fortunate to have a properly working SIR-TS360. Mine suffered from frequent dropouts but otherwise was great. I had to swap it for a Hughes HTL-HD which has worked fine but if not for the dropouts, the Samsung would have been preferable.

Won't I have to pay $5 for the extra DirecTV receiver and another $5 for the extra TiVo service? I already pay $5 for the TiVo service for the unit in my Family Room.

Having 3 DirecTV receivers for 2 TVs is kind of a bummer But I guess it is still cheaper than the getting the SA, paying a $12 service fee, and getting lower quality.

On another note, I am assuming I cannot record any HD programs on the Standard DirecTiVo (even as SD), since the receiver won't be able to tune to those HD stations (both OTA and DirecTV stations) - is this correct?

Finally, which is better if I do get another DirecTiVo receiver: 1) connecting it directly to the TV, or 2) going through the my Samsung HD DirecTV receiver (it has an S-Video input)?